New car sales across the European Union dropped by 1.9% in November, reflecting the ongoing challenges in the automotive sector, as weak demand continues to impact the region’s largest car manufacturers. Despite this overall decline, Bulgaria experienced a notable uptick in new car registrations, with a 14% increase in November, reaching 3,956 units.
This downturn in EU sales followed a modest 1.1% rise in October. The largest declines were seen in France, where registrations fell by 12.7%, and in Italy, which saw a drop of 10.8%. Germany reported a 0.5% decrease, while Spain posted a 6.4% increase. Over the first eleven months of the year, EU car sales grew marginally by 0.4%, reaching 9.726 million units, with Spain recording a notable 5.1% growth. In contrast, France, Germany and Italy all saw reductions in car sales.
In Bulgaria, the car market has continued to thrive, with new registrations up by 16.2% YoY through November, totaling 40,211 units. In the same period, the market for electric and hybrid vehicles in Bulgaria bucked the EU trend, with electric vehicle (EV) registrations increasing by 11.2%, plug-in hybrid vehicles by 33.3% and hybrid electric cars by an impressive 107.7%.
On the European level, the share of hybrid and electric vehicles has been steadily growing, outpacing gasoline-powered cars for the third consecutive month. Hybrid electric car sales surged by 18.5% in November, capturing 33.2% of the market, while gasoline-powered car sales fell by 7.8%. However, sales of fully electric cars (BEVs) decreased by 9.5%, with significant drops in key markets like Germany and France.
Diesel car sales in the EU also saw a steep decline of 15.3%, reducing their share to 10.6% of the total market. In Bulgaria, however, both gasoline and diesel car sales bucked the European trend, rising by 13.2% and 8.2%, respectively. The growth in hybrid and electric vehicle sales in Bulgaria comes despite a broader slowdown in the European EV market. (Novinite)